Return of the Yarn
It feels like an age ago that it was spring shearing time. Like now, the mornings were chilly but the sun was bright. The sheep were poofy fluff balls, ready to take off their winter coats in preparation for summer. For days, I’d worked through the mountains of raw, sticky wool, sorting and pulling out […]
The Art of Repurposing
There’s an old green trailer on our farm, reworked by some creative soul from the back end of an old pickup truck. It hangs out next to the garage, out of the way of the snowplow. A few years ago, we had the idea to load it up with the various pieces of scrap metal […]
New Exploration, Added Skillsets
Being an interdisciplinary artist means that I’m not married to one medium or methodology. Creative projects for me typically start as an idea seeking form–which might eventually become a song, a tapestry, a story, or any number of options for making. Adding to my toolset for creative expression keeps things fresh for me as an […]
Facing Your Project UFOs
For many of us, the term UFO conjures images of disk-shaped alien space craft with blinking lights and eerie music, but for creative makers, we have a different use for this acronym—Un-Finished Object. A creative UFO is a different critter from the other acronym WIPs, or Works In Progress. A WIP is something you’re actively […]
Always Experimenting
Artists don’t sit still well. Repeating what’s been created before soon becomes painfully boring, and I find myself yearning to push the boundaries and try something new. Because of the squirrel attack on my studio yurt (and the fact that I’m still dealing with mice in there), all of my copious yarn stash had to […]
Developing a New Model for Teaching Fiber Arts
Developing a New Model for Teaching Fiber Arts Until Spring of 2020 I had spend years immersed in an “in person” fiber arts teaching schedule, with needle felting classes on Saturdays, Painting with Wool felting classes on Sundays, two-day weaving intensives, and many Fridays travel teaching to folk schools for felting and punch needle rug […]
Hands to Help our Wild Friends
RESOURCES near the bottom of this post! Winter can force us to face the suffering that surrounds us. The cold bites our faces, our dogs hop on three or two legs, aging loved ones struggle and pass on. We can swing through spring and summer infused with a sense of bliss, but winter holds a […]
Loose Threads Scarf: New Year’s Project with Pattern
A new year is upon us, and with it so many expectations. It can be both exciting and daunting, especially if we’ve set ourselves some lofty goals for the year. Those New Year’s Resolutions, have they worked well for you in the past? If this tradition has proved a struggle, here’s a way to rethink […]
Rose Window Hat: A Fiber Artist’s Giving Tuesday Initiative
In April, I like so many watched in horror as Notre Dame burned. I wanted to do something to help, even though I lived half a world away. A medievalist who admires stained glass (including the irreplaceable beauty of the cathedral’s famous rose windows), I designed this hat as a tribute. Made from our farm’s […]
Peace Pole Meets Yarn Bombing
Each winter at Farmstead Creamery (which is also Erindale’s gallery), my family and I dream up something new to add that enriches the experience for visitors. This might be celebrity animals to meet, one of the historic farm tractors to touch and admire, a tractor tire turned into a sandbox for imaginative play, or the […]
